Disneyland Day Two: Thursday

Thursday was Linsey and Ray's early entry day.  Because we bought annual passes, we didn't get early entry, so we got to sleep in for an hour.  We decided to do Toy Story Midway Mania, so we met Linsey and Ray at the California Adventure Gates.

Like Disneyland, California Adventure opens their gates 30 minutes early.  So we headed over to Soarin' and Matt got FP and then we went over by Grizzly Peak to wait for the rope drop.  It was pretty empty:

We decided to take a spin on Soarin' while we were waiting for the rest of the park to open, but figured it would be too long of a wait.  So at 9 we headed to Paradise Pier and went on Toy Story.  I don't know how she does it, but Mom was at the front of the pack.  She looked back and all of us trailing behind so she slowed up a bit.  That's right, that 60 year old can MOVE.

Linsey and I decided to go together and I was quite proud of my score.  I got a beaver:

Since we were in the neighborhood, everyone wanted to catch the coaster, Screamin'.  I wasn't feeling up to being jostled and turned upside down, so I opted to stay with the kids.  Luckily, King Triton's Carousel is right next to the roller coaster, so all the kids hopped on.  The best part about it is that they let you stay on and ride it over and over and over:


So we headed over to Tower of Terror.  Matt and I took a spin and then switched and took the kids to Bug's Land.  Jeremy wanted to go on the bumper cars again, so Matt took the boys and I took the girls.  First we went on Flik's Flyers:

Then we headed over to Francis' Ladybug Boogie and the girls decided to boogie on down while waiting in line:

Then we hopped in our ladybug and we spun until our little hearts were content.


Then we met up with the boys and went over to Heimlich's Chew Chew Train:

 
We then left Bug's Land and went back to the hotel for lunch.  We walked a block south of our hotel and ate at Bucca di Beppo.  It was delicious.  Then we crashed out for a mid-afternoon nap.  Around 5 we headed back to Disneyland.  We took a float down the bayou on Pirates:

We went and got FP for Splash and decide to hit Winnie the Pooh:
 
Then our FP's were up so we headed on Splash.  It was a cooler evening but it was still a fun ride:

Since it was starting to get dark, we decided to take a spin on the Jungle Cruise, maybe it is just me but the animals seem more life-like in the dark:
 
Our skipper was hilarious too! 

It was about 8:30 by now and we wanted to see the Main St. Electrical Parade before it moved to Florida, so we headed back over to California Adventure. And waited:

and waited:

and waited:

and waited:

FINALLY it started and let me tell you, that is slowest moving parade ever.  But the floats were so cute and kids got such a kick out them, so I guess it makes everything alright:










 
As soon as the parade was over, the park was closed.  We were pretty beat, so we grabbed shuttle and headed home.  Coming up . . . Day Three, Our Last Day.

Disneyland Day One: Wednesday

Spring fever got the better of me.  A few weeks ago, I got it set in my mind to go somewhere WARM.  I was so sick of the snow and cold.  I wanted warm.  Since we still had our annual passes, we decided to head to the Happiest Place on Earth.  We left Nephi Tuesday night and stayed at a $20 hotel room at Whiskey Pete's.  Everyone (but Matt) crashed out around St. George:


This was a Spring Break Week, so that park hours were 8am-Midnight every night we were there.  We were planning on it being SUPER busy.  So, because of the early opening, we got up at 3AM and headed to Anaheim.  The kids didn't have any idea where we were going and what we were doing.  Finally, when we hopped on the 60 Bailee was looking out the window and she says, "Grandma, this looks like the way to Disneyland."  Grandma looks at her and says, "FINALLY!!!!!"  It was killing her to hold in our little surprise.  Once the kids realized we were going to Disneyland they were all sorts of excited.  We got to the hotel, checked-in, and bought our shuttle passes.  Since we waited until the last minute the hotel was BLOCKS away.  It was cheaper to buy an ART pass than pay for parking everyday.  So we hopped on the shuttle and we arrived at the park at 7:15 AM!!!
Once Linsey and Ray got wind that we were planning a trip, Linsey decided that she needed a little vacation too, but by the time they booked their room, our hotel was SOLD OUT (yah, it was going to be busy) so she got another hotel and just met us at the parks. 
We met at the gates and waited for the park to open.  Usually, the parks open Main Street 30 minutes before so you can shop and what not.  So we headed to the rope at the end of Main Street.  Our first ride every time is Pirates.  I ran and got fast passes (FP) for Space and met everyone at the ride.

As we dropped down into the pirate world, we rounded the corner and found our favorite character:

Charlie the crab was back and Bailee was just squealing!  Everyone was so excited to be together in the Happiest Place on Earth.  After Pirates, we headed over to Splash Mountain.  Kyle was FINALLY tall enough for all the thrill rides and this would be his first ride on Splash:

What's that?  You need a close-up of his terrified face?  Here ya go:

And of course Matt and I with the girls:

Next, we headed over to Matt's favorite, Haunted Mansion:

As we were getting on our "doom buggies" we looked around and couldn't find Linsey and Ray or Rachel and Kyle anywhere.  I looked at my phone and saw the Linsey had sent a text saying that Rachel was losing it, so they went on Winnie the Pooh. 
 
While we were waiting for Linsey and Ray, we hopped on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  Bailee LOVES this ride.
  
Once we got off the ride, Linsey and Ray met us at the exit and we took little Megan while the rest of them when on the ride.  She is such a cutie:

When we got off the ride, I suddenly got VERY sick and I realized that I forgot to put my motion sickness patch on.  Everyone was headed over to Space Mountain, so I opted to sit out with Meggers.  In the Tomorrowland Terrace there is a giant ball with water.  I took Megan over and sat down and watched her play.  She had a ball splashing until I noticed she was LICKING the ball:

I told her "no, no," and she folded her arms and pouted her lip and turned her back on me.  So we headed over to the Space Mountain exit and waited for everyone to come out.  Once again, it was Kyle's first trip into Space and he was a little scared:

Throughout the morning I was carefully gathering fast passes to use during the evening.  We were all planning on it being insanely busy.  So I had FP for Buzz, Space, Splash, and Thunder Mountain.
So it was about 10 and we wanted to catch the 10:30 showing of Playhouse Disney.  So we headed over to California Adventure.  The kids LOVE this show.  They dance, clap, and sing.  It's great:



So after the show, we tried to head to Monster, but it was shut down, so we wandered over to Bug's Land:

Jeremy insisted on going on the bumper cars, mostly because the worker told him that he could drive one all by himself:

Rachel was begging to ride with me, so we jumped in a car and started bumping everyone we could find.  Mom decided to wait with Meggers.



Everyone was starting to get cranky, so we grabbed some lunch at Taste Pilots Grill.  I was sad to find out that they stopped serving the criss-cut fries.  But it was still tasty.  Then we took a spin on Soarin' Over California.  It was about 12:30 by now, so we headed back to the hotel for a little nap.  Mom decided to stay at the park and do some shopping.  So we headed to the tram:

The first 5 minutes in the room, Jeremy kept arguing that he wasn't tired and wanted to go back to the park.  Suddenly it was quiet and look over and he was crashed out.  After our nap, we were going to meet Linsey and Ray at California Adventure for the Pixar Play Parade.  It was getting a little cool, so we packed the kids jackets.  We headed to our ART stop and waited for the shuttle:
 
We called Linsey and Ray once we got off the shuttle and met them at the plaza where they were saving seats for the parade. 

This is my favorite parade.  The music is upbeat and the floats are so colorful:
   

The kids loved it:

Megan poked little Nemo right in the eye after this photo was taken.  The kids were dancing all over the place:



So after the parade, we went to see if Monsters was open and it was, so we hopped a cab to downtown Monstropolis:


Then we headed over to catch an elevator at Tower of Terror.  On the way we spotted this:

In case you can't tell, there is a muscle sign above Matt.  Then we headed for our trip to another dimension.  There was NO WAY Rachel or Kyle were going on this ride, so they went to Bug's Land.  Bailee was a little hesitant, but she did great:



We were on the second row.  So by now everyone was starving, and Rachel was having sensory issues, so we decided to try some comfort food over at the Plaza Inn.  They have a chicken dinner that is HUGE.  So we ordered a couple of those and shared.  Jeremy couldn't resist:


After dinner and a bathroom break, we headed over to Tomorrowland to start using our Fast Passes:

We started with Buzz:

And I finally broke 100,000:

I think it was because I wasn't with Matt.  He claims to have gotten over 200,000 but when I went to e-mail his picture it said the Transmission didn't come through.  Convenient isn't it? I couldn't find Ray's picture either, so all I have are the girls:


Since I missed out on Space that morning, I wanted to take a spin on it:

Then we used our Thunder Mountain FP.  Surprisingly, the park wasn't crowded out all.  It was busy but manageable. 
  

Matt was insistent that I ride with him:
 
We headed over to Splash Mountain.  Linsey and Ray's kids were crashed out, so Ray stayed at Rancho del Zocalo with his kids.  We handed the worker our fast passes, but the park was practcally empty.  We walked right onto a log without any wait.
It was getting late, so Matt took the kids back to the hotel while Mom and I did some shopping.  It was a fun first day.  Coming up . . . . Day Two.